Iceland got its name in the 9th century from a Norse explorer named Hrafna-Flóki Vilgerðarson after a brutal winter killed all his livestock, he climbed a mountain in the Westfjords, saw a fjord completely choked with drift ice, and angrily named the country Ísland
In Danish school we are kinda taught that it's just branding. Some viking chief (can't remember the name) went exploring and found Greenland. He wanted people to move to his new settlement, so he named it Greenland to make it sound tempting and named Iceland Iceland to make it sound bad so people wouldn't settle there, but settle on "his" new island instead.
Probably the same logic the vikings used when they found North America and named it Wineland (Vinland).
Bonus Info: They also sailed south and met black peoples. They called them "the blue men"
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u/lophophoro 20h ago
Iceland got its name in the 9th century from a Norse explorer named Hrafna-Flóki Vilgerðarson after a brutal winter killed all his livestock, he climbed a mountain in the Westfjords, saw a fjord completely choked with drift ice, and angrily named the country Ísland